''Heniochus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

butterflyfish The butterflyfish are a group of conspicuous tropical marine fish of the family Chaetodontidae; the bannerfish and coralfish are also included in this group. The approximately 129 species in 12 genera are found mostly on the reefs of the Atlan ...

es from the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Chaetodontidae. They are native to the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

. Though very similar in appearance to the Moorish idol ''( Zanclus cornutus)'', the members of this genus are not closely related to it.

Characteristics

''Heniochus'' species are distinguished within the Chaetodontidae by having the fourth spine in the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

elongated, or even forming a filament. The supraorbital crests in adults have spines or horn-like protuberances. They normally have a hump, or at least a robust bony growth on the nape.

Etymology

''Heniochus'' is

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

for a “carriage driver” or “coachman” and is a reference to the long, filamentous 4th dorsal spine of these fish, resembling the whip of a coachman.

Species

There are currently eight recognized species in this genus: * '' Heniochus acuminatus'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, 1758) (Pennant coralfish) * '' Heniochus chrysostomus'' G. Cuvier, 1831 (Threeband pennantfish) * '' Heniochus diphreutes'' D. S. Jordan, 1903 (False moorish idol) * '' Heniochus intermedius''

Steindachner Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner describ ...

, 1893 (Red Sea bannerfish) * '' Heniochus monoceros'' G. Cuvier, 1831 (Masked bannerfish) * '' Heniochus pleurotaenia'' C. G. E. Ahl, 1923 (Phantom bannerfish) * '' Heniochus singularius'' H. M. Smith & Radcliffe, 1911 (Singular bannerfish) * '' Heniochus varius'' ( G. Cuvier, 1829) (Horned bannerfish)

Pictorial identification

Image:Pennant coralfish melb aquarium edit2.jpg, '' Heniochus acuminatus'' Image:Pennant Bannerfish (Heniochus chrysostomus).jpg, '' Heniochus chrysostomus'' Image:Pennant Bannerfish (Heniochus diphreutes) (3148921825).jpg, '' Heniochus diphreutes'' Image:Heniochus intermedius.jpg, '' Heniochus intermedius'' Image:Heniochus monoceros.jpg, '' Heniochus monoceros'' Image:Heniochus pleurotaenia1.jpg, '' Heniochus pleurotaenia'' Image:Heniochus singularius 2000 Thailand.jpg, '' Heniochus singularius'' Image:Humphead bannerfish Heniochus varius (7504787246).jpg, '' Heniochus varius''

References

Chaetodontidae Marine fish genera Taxa named by Georges Cuvier {{Chaetodontidae-stub